Chosen
Chapter Eight
Harry nodded pleasantly to the receptionist and took a seat in one of the Lobby's chairs. He'd managed to purchase some new clothes since he left St. Mungo's and after a brief lunch at a Muggle snack stand, Harry found his way here. To the main Headquarters of the Daily Prophet that is.
Harry noticed that the receptionist was trying to get his attention. She wasn't doing a very good job of it, as she kept getting a glazed over look on her face and goggling at him for a moment before trying again.
Still, Harry looked up when she finally managed to speak intelligibly. "Excuse me." She said.
Harry looked up and shot her a glare. The effect was instantaneous, but not what he was going for. Her eyes bugged out, she subconsciously scooted her rolling office chair about ten feet further from him and got a look on her face like she was going to piss herself with fear. Harry was intending to get her to topple out of her chair. Oh well, no such luck.
Still, to her credit, she had managed to compose herself again and go back to her original task.
"Excuse me sir, but do you have an appointment?" She asked.
"No, but I will very shortly. I'm here to see a member of your staff to discuss a business proposition. She won't be expecting me, but she will see me. She'll cancel all her weekend plans if I ask nicely." Harry said with a wicked grin.
"Sir, all of our non-secretarial staff are in a massive board meeting right now-" Harry interrupted her.
"Which will be ending in approximately twenty-two seconds. I'll wait, thank you."
Twenty one and three quarters seconds later there was the sound of a whole lot of chairs getting pushed back, and people standing up.
Five seconds after that, the first of the reporters began to file out of the large meeting room at the other end of the building. Harry smiled at the clerk, and walked right into the stream of people leaving the room.
Harry found his mark without her noticing him. He moved about the crowd until he was behind her.
"Hello, Rita." Harry said.
The reporter in question jumped about a foot in the air before relaxing once she recognized who he was.
"Why Har-" she started.
"Not here." Harry interrupted. "I believe we have some very important matters to discuss. How about your office?"
Rita gave him a look, and a very significant one at that. It seemed to say "I don't know what you're up to but I don't like it so it better be good."
"Right this way." she responded, guiding him down the hall. He followed her past dozens of uniform offices. The only thing that changed from one to the next seemed to be the pictures on the desk and the name on the door.
Finally they reached one with the name "Rita Skeeter" on the door with the words "Special correspondent" written under it in smaller letters. She held the door for him and followed him in. She closed the door and put up a privacy ward.
"I hear that contracts were up for re-negotiation today. I hope you got a favorable deal?" Harry asked.
Rita made a face and tried to hide it quickly. "Not as good as I'd have liked." she responded. "I believe you said something about a business proposition?"
"Yes, I did. Rita, how would you like to quit the Daily Prophet and work for me?" Rita laughed.
"I don't see what you could possibly-" she started.
"The pay is two thousand galleons a month." Harry said overriding her.
Rita's jaw dropped. She was lucky to make that much money in six months, let alone one month.
"What would I be doing?" she asked, her mouth suddenly dry.
"The same thing you always do, Rita. The only thing that will change is you won't be the one who chooses the stories you take anymore. I will. Should you choose to accept, you will come in tomorrow when you would be signing your contract and let the Prophet know that you quit and now have enough money to retire and quit reporting all together."
"But you said I would be reporting."Rita protested.
"You would be. You just wouldn't tell them that. You would pick up a pen name for your own safety and start freelance reporting. And you would report whatever I tell you to. The stories will be dangerous, but exactly what the world needs to see. You would of course report these things truthfully and accurately unless I tell you otherwise."
"One more question." Rita said. "When do I start?"
"On the first of the month, I will give you your First assignment... Mrs. Romper." Harry said, getting to his feet.
"Mrs. Romper?" she asked incredulously.
"Sarah Jetty Romper. It's an anagram of my name. Voldemort likes to play with letters. He'll discover it eventually and it'll really piss him off."
Rita was still cringing when Harry left the room. She had no idea what she had just gotten herself into.
Harry left the Daily Prophet building whistling. He still had two more stops to make before the day was out. Both of which were (thankfully) relatively close. Harry crossed the Daily Prophet off of his mental checklist, and headed off in the direction of Gringotts.
A/n: According to JKR and the Harry Potter Lexicon, the Galleon is worth 5 British pounds. By that conversion, it means it's worth roughly $9.50 in US Dollars. That means Harry is paying Rita the equivalent of 10,000 pounds or $19,000 a month. Remember that these are at current rates, so if these are inaccurate in a year from now don't whine about it in a review, OK?
